Overview: The tours for Electric Light Orchestra from January to July 1973 in support of their second album were the band's first glimpses into rock 'n' roll stardom. At several European shows in February they opened for Deep Purple, a band that was at the height of their success at the time. They watched as this superstar band enjoyed limousines, private jets, five-star accommodations and more, yet ELO were still a struggling band. In June 1973, the ELO members played in the USA for the first time ever (except for Bev who had done so with The Move in 1969). In USA, they were for the first time treated as genuine rock stars by the promoters and audiences which they had been lacking in the UK.

It's perhaps not accurate to say that these tours were ELO 2 tours; rather, they were tours to promote the band and the ELO 2 album just happened to be the latest album during this period. The Roll Over Beethoven single was released in January 1973 and the ELO 2 album was released in the UK in March 1973, however at the start of 1973 (and even at the end of 1972) the band was already playing many of the ELO 2 songs in their live set. In reality, the band was playing whenever, whereever and whatever they could. At this time, the band was so new that they were just promoting themselves and whatever their latest material happened to be.

European Shows: The tour started with a few quick shows in January 1973, followed by a tour of several Scandinavian countries in February, opening for Deep Purple. These appearances with Deep Purple would be the beginning of a lengthy relationship between the bands, with ELO opening for them at shows all over the world for the next few years. It was on this tour that the band witnessed the excesses of rock 'n' roll stardom, as Deep Purple were at the peak of their success at the time. Although Deep Purple toured in style, ELO did not and had to watch with envy.

The band continued in the UK through March and April and a few more short dates in May. It was at the March 17th show at Malvern Winter Gardens that the band had their first ever sell-out show (and unfortunately, some fans arrived with forged tickets). And the March 23rd show in London where the band first used scenery for the stage (although what exactly this scenery was remains uncertain) and projections of the album covers.

Marc Bolan Joins ELO: Marc Bolan, who at the time was at the height of his popularity, had long been friends with members of ELO and claimed a love of Jeff's music all the way back to the Idle Race. It was in April 1973 that he was recording at AIR Studios in London at the same time as ELO and, although uncredited, contributed to the ELO songs Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Everyone's Born To Die and loaned Jeff his guitar for the solo on Showdown. So it was that a few days later on the 10th of April, Marc joined the band on stage for an extended jam of Roll Over Beethoven in Watford on the outskirts of London. The jam was reported to have run on for 15 minutes. No known audio recording of this event is known to survive, but several photos were taken by Gary Merrin. Given the popularity of Marc at the time, the story is that female fans at the stage spotted Marc at the edge of the stage during the ELO set (before Roll Over Beethoven) and screamed so loud that the band couldn't hear themselves play.

ELO in North America: The Electric Light Orchestra debuted their first tour of North America in early summer 1973. This was Jeff Lynne's first time ever across the Atlantic. The band's first album (mistakenly titled No Answer) had little success in America, but then the band was not there on tour to promote it. So with the release of the band's second album in America (the title also changed to Electric Light Orchestra II and the album cover art changed), they came to America to promote themselves. Despite the unexpected mishandling of the band's second album (the aforementioned title and cover mixup as well as the "wrong" version of Roll Over Beethoven), the label United Artists apparently had faith in the band and heavily promoted them.

Both Bev Bevan and Jeff Lynne have often spoken highly of the band's arrival in America. They had taken a plane to Los Angeles, the location of the headquarters of United Artists. They were greeted at the airport in Los Angeles, taken in limousines down the infamous palm tree lined Sunset Boulevard where they spotted a large billboard advertisement welcoming the band, then when they arrived at the Continental Hyatt House hotel (infamous for its rock star guests), they were again greeted by a "WELCOME ELO" marquis welcoming them. They were being treated as rock stars, something they were not experiencing in their native country. As Jeff jokingly stated, they couldn't even get arrested in the UK.

They also spoke highly of the American audiences. Press at the time hyped up the fact that they were a British rock band using strings as part of the band-- "the English guys with the big fiddles." They were an unusual sight, appearing as a long haired bunch of British bad boys, dressed in tuxedos (in the press photos) and featuring a strange mixture of rock 'n' roll and chamber orchestra. The American audiences listened intently, enjoying the music and enthusiastically applauding the band's efforts. Bev Bevan states that a June 5th show in Phoenix, Arizona with a revolving stage is when they first felt they were truly accepted by the audiences. At the Academy of Music show in New York, they were part of a set of British bands. Although they weren't the headliners, the reviews stated that they stole the show. Again, this is something that the band wasn't getting in the UK and they were disheartened by lack of enthusiasm when they returned there for a few more shows after the tour of North America and the lack of enthusiasm for their music. This was the first inkling of the band's success in America. With such enthusiasm from audiences as well as heavy promotion and enthusiasm from United Artists, perhaps the band saw their future success in America and they would focus attention there, rather that Europe, for the next few years.

The Songs Played:
The material on this tour was from a variety of sources. Certainly they played songs from the ELO 2 album, such as From The Sun to The World (Boogie #1) and the rousing Roll Over Beethoven. They played no material from the band's first album, The Electric Light Orchestra, other than 10538 Overture; perhaps this was because Roy Wood was no longer with the band and since half that album was featuring Roy, the band couldn't properly reproduce it on stage. They also included a cover version of Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls Of Fire; and they even performed The Move's Do Ya in their setlist as well, even though it was not a song meant for ELO. They also did some original material not ever released. This period was more about selling the concept of a rock band with classical instruments, which in turn helped sell tickets and records.

Surprisingly little recorded material from this tour has ever surfaced. Only a BBC recording which is probably incomplete is known and has official release. And a bootleg audience recording of one song (Do Ya) from a Canadian concert survives. Because of this, determining a complete setlist for the tour is problematic.

It was while the support act was playing at a March 1973 gig that Jeff and Richard were backstage and first demoed the songs Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, Showdown, Daybreaker and Everyone's Born To Die to the rest of the band. Just a week or two later, in early April, the band was in the studio recording the songs. Daybreaker was written especially for the band's turn to Birmingham and was first played and added to the setlist at the March 14th show as part of a medley with From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1).

Changing Personnel: This tour would also be the last for violinist Wilf Gibson and cellist Colin Walker. Wilf left the band in a money dispute. He considered that he wasn't being paid enough for his services, yet Jeff and Bev already thought he was being paid too much. With this tension, Wilf was fired and soon replaced by Mik Kaminski. Colin left willingly, having a fiancé at home in England demanded that he choose her or the band. He made his choice and was replaced by cellist Hugh McDowell, who had left ELO in 1972 during their tour for the band's first album to join Roy Wood's Wizzard.

Mike's Cello Solo and the Exploding Cello: Mike Edwards had quickly become known as the wacky frontman of ELO by wearing strange outfits and acting the clown on stage. It was during the North American leg of this tour that he first performed his famous "exploding cello" bit where he would mime Le Cygne (popularly known as The Dying Swan) by Camille Saint-Saëns on stage (with cellist someone else, presumably Colin Walker, playing the actual tune offstage) by running various citrus fruit along the cello strings. At the end of the performance and with the press of a button, the cello would explode. This zany visual spectacle thrilled audiences, even if sometimes the exploding mechanism failed to operate properly and Mike had to take bows for a performance he didn't give. This was not done at all shows, especially given the hit-or-miss explosion of the cello (and the danger to Mike). Mike was apparently not much of a fan of it, given that the device would explode right in front of him and he didn't really trust it. Details are still unclear exactly when and where it was done, but it is known to have been done during the ELO 2 tour, the On The Third Day tour and some of the early Eldorado tour performances (during In The Hall Of The Mountain King). Unfortunately, no known visual or audio record of this Le Cygne performance, bootleg or otherwise, is known to exist.

Unrealized Plans: At one point, plans were afoot for a concert to be recorded for TV and cinema broadcast as well as a double album. A March 3, 1973 article in Sounds magazine reveals that a March 29th show was to be filmed at the Rainbow Theatre in London, with a newly written "mini-symphony" and the band's live set to be one half of the double album and new material to be the other half. This, of course, never happened, but there was probably some truth to the idea and they were not just wild imaginings by Sounds.

Certainly the band recorded some material in April 1973, although not enough for an album. Much later in 1973 they recorded a "mini-symphony" in the On The Third Day suite, which took up half that album. The band did play Rainbow Theatre in March 1973, but on the 23rd, not the 29th. So this was probably an early idea, generated by manager Don Arden, that just never happened. Indeed, many years later there were rumors that the band's album after 1979's Discovery was to be a double album with one album being the band's live set (probably taken from the 1978 Wembley concert) and the other album being all new material. This never happened and instead the single disc Time album was released instead. So the idea had been in the works for many years but remained unrealized.

Rick Pannell joined the band as sound engineer for the April 19, 1973 BBC show (Paris Cinema). He would be with the band in this role until the end of the A New World Record tour in 1977.

Other crew is uncertain, although probably Jake Commander, Brian Jones and Phil Copestake were involved as engineers or technician as they were known to be good friends with the band and involved in most of their tours.

Tour Dates

The tours ran in January to May 1973 in the UK and Scandinavia. In April (and probably into early May), while in London, the band recorded some tracks for the next album as well as the Showdown single-- material that wouldn't be released until near the end of the year. In June and July the band undertook their first tour of North America before returning home for a few more shows.

Date

City, Country

Venue

Opening/Headliner Act(s)

Comments

ELO 2 UK/Europe Tour (Winter/Spring 1973)

January 20, 1973

Northampton, UK

Northampton County Cricket Club

Holy Mackerel

January 25, 1973

Hanley, UK

Heavy Steam Machine

Unknown

February 3, 1973

Aarhus, Denmark

Vejlby-Risskov Hallen

Deep Purple (headliner)

February 4, 1973

Gothenburg, Sweden

Scandinavium

Deep Purple (headliner)

February 5, 1973

Stockholm, Sweden

Konserthus

Deep Purple (headliner)

February 8, 1973

Odense, Denmark

Fyns Forum

Deep Purple (headliner)

February 9, 1973

Copenhagen, Denmark

KB Hallen

Deep Purple (headliner)

February 10, 1973

Copenhagen, Denmark

KB Hallen

Deep Purple (headliner)

February 16, 1973

Newcastle, UK

Mayfair Ballroom

Sandgate, Steve Gibbons Band

February 21, 1973

Leuven, Belgium

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Unknown local talent

This concert was intended to be recorded for Radio Luxembourg, but it was not recorded.

March 2, 1973

Bristol, UK

Colston Hall

Unknown

March 3, 1973

Cambridge, UK

Corn Exchange

Elder Kindred

March 9, 1973

Chelmsford, UK

Chelmsford Tech College

Blackfood Sue, Gary Moore Band

March 10, 1973

Norwich, UK

Melody Rooms

Unknown

March 11, 1973

Stevenage, UK

Stevenage Locarno

The Jook

March 13, 1973

Liverpool, UK

Liverpool University

Unknown

March 14, 1973

Birmingham, UK

Birmingham Town Hall

Unknown

March 17, 1973

Malvern, UK

Malvern Winter Gardens

Steve Gibbons Band, Sidewinder

March 19, 1973

Manchester, UK

Free Trade Hall

Unknown

March 23, 1973

London, UK

Rainbow Theatre

Thin Lizzy

March 24, 1973

Dagenham, UK

Roundhouse

Unknown

March 25, 1973

Gravesend, UK

Gravesend Civic Hall

Unknown

March 30, 1973

Leeds, UK

Leeds Polytechnic

Steve Gibbons Band

March 31, 1973

Boston, UK

Gliderdrome

Steve Gibbons Band

Showdown and On The Third Day early sessions

Early April, 1973

London, UK

AIR Studios

N/A

This is the recording session for the Showdown single and only some of the On The Third Day tracks. They were called the Elizabeth Lister Observatory (E.L.O.) sessions as a joke.

ELO 2 UK/Europe Tour (Winter/Spring 1973) (continued)

April 7, 1973

Folkestone, UK

Leas Cliff Hall

Unknown

April 8, 1973

Croydon, UK

Croydon Greyhound

Unknown

April 10, 1973

Watford, UK

Watford Town Hall

Nick Pickett

Marc Bolan joined the band on stage during the Roll Over Beethoven jam.

Note that this show was cancelled (at least the ELO appearance) for unknown reasons and the band instead played St. Louis on this date.

June 15, 1973

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

American Theatre

Climax Blues Band

There were two shows played this night.

June 16, 1973

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Massey Hall

Climax Blues Band

June 17, 1973

Buffalo, New York, USA

Unknown

Unknown

June 18, 1973

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

The Warehouse

Unknown

June 20, 1973

Ambler, Pennsylvania, USA

Temple Festival Theater

Al Kooper's Blues Project (opener)

This concert was pert of the 6th Annual Temple University Music Festival. Some reports say that this was reported as a concert by The Move and not Electric Light Orchestra. Larry Magid the promoter from Electric Factory Concerts was present at the show.

June 21, 1973

Los Angeles, California, USA

UCLA Royce Hall

N/A

This is the In Concert TV show taping. Technically this is not a tour performance. The only song broadcast from this recording was Roll Over Beethoven, but there may have been more songs performed.

June 22, 1973

New York, New York, USA (CANCELLED)

Academy of Music

N/A

June 23, 1973

New York, New York, USA

Academy of Music

Savoy Brown, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Status Quo

June 25, 1973

Columbia, Maryland, USA (CANCELLED)

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Quicksilver Messenger Service (headliner)

June 27, 1973

Clarkston, Michigan, USA

Pine Knob Music Theatre

Quicksilver Messenger Service (headliner), Hall & Oates

June 30, 1973

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Unknown

Unknown

July 1, 1973

Cincinatti, Ohio, USA

Unknown

Unknown

July 4, 1973

London, Ontario, Canada

Ontario Gardens

Unknown

July 6, 1973

Wildwood, New Jersey, USA

Wildwood Convention Center

Rush

July 7, 1973

West Palm Beach, Florida, USA

Auditorium

The Edgar Winter Group

July 8, 1973

Tampa, Florida, USA

Curtis Hixon Hall

The Edgar Winter Group

July 9, 1973

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Unknown

July 10, 1973

Wheeling, Illinois, USA

Wheeling Fieldhouse

All Star Frogs

July 11, 1973

Wheaton, Illinois, USA

DuPage County Fairgrounds

Unknown

July 12, 1973

Santa Monica, California, USA

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium

Frampton’s Camel, Arthur Lee

July 13, 1973

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

PNE Garden Auditorium

Fragile

July 14, 1973

Salem, Oregon, USA

Salem Armory

Unknown

July 15, 1973

Seattle, Washington, USA

Paramount Northwest Theatre

Jr. Cadillac, Rube Tubin, Nancy Claire

ELO 2 Follow-up UK Shows (Summer 1972)

July 19, 1973

Truro, UK

Truro City Hall

Unknown

July 20, 1973

Barnstaple, UK

Queens Hall

Unknown

July 21, 1973

Plymouth, UK

Guildhall

Unknown

July 22, 1973

Torquay, UK

Torquay Pavilion

Unknown

On The Third Day late sessions

August, 1973

London, UK

De Lane Lea Studios

N/A

Setlist

The setlist for the tours in support of the band's second album are difficult to know for sure. Lack of any solid information is available. A small handful of incomplete recorded material is currently available and conjecture about much of it does lead to some conclusions. Some fan memories of a show from a USA concert on the non-bootlegged North American tour also help fill in some of the gaps.

First off, a BBC recording of the band in Paris Cinema in London on April 19, 1973 exists. The recording is of only four songs. It's unclear if more songs were performed but not released or recorded; if the band performed a subset of their full setlist for the BBC recording event; or if the band's setlist was really so short. Other than this, the only other known source of information is a recording of The Move's Do Ya from a Toronto, Canada show at Massey Hall from June 16, 1973.

All the confirmed songs performed are taken from the ELO 2 album or are covers (including In The Hall Of The Mountain King which the band had not yet recorded and Do Ya from The Move). Also included were the newly written, but not yet recorded Daybreaker and Dreaming Of 4000. 10538 Overture was also performed, but nothing else from the band's first album. They also probably performed Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls Of Fire as it was known to have been performed on the prior tours and the following tours.

The inclusion of In The Hall Of The Mountain King was probably selected as a live performance thanks in part to the success of Roll Over Beethoven. A rock version of the Edvard Grieg classical piece was a bold statement about the nature of the band, the same as Roll Over Beethoven and Great Balls of Fire. However, instead of orchestrating a classic rock song, the band flipped the concept and was rocking a classical piece.

Showdown is believed to have been performed on the North American leg of the tour, which is interesting because the song had just been recorded in England before the tour and not yet released anywhere. As this is not bootlegged, details of its arrangement remain unclear.

The inclusion of Do Ya was probably selected, at least for the North American shows, as it was the only other "hit" for Jeff Lynne in America other than Roll Over Beethoven. The song was the same basic Move version, with no strings and Jeff shouting the "look out baby, there's a-plane a comin'" at the end. Bassist Mike deAlbuquerque joined in on harmony vocals on the choruses.

From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) was performed, but it seems to have been in two different forms. Before the March 14, 1973 show in Birmingham, the standard album version is believed to have been performed. It is known that this version was being performed live in late 1972 and this same version was carried forward into 1973 as well. Jeff has stated that he wrote Daybreaker especially for ELO's return to Birmingham and at a March 14, 1973 show in Birmingham; it was also reported that it was the new opening song for the shows and that it featured a Bev Bevan drum solo. These facts about Daybreaker, however, may not be as simple as reported because the surviving recording that features this song uses it as part of an intro in a medley created for From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1). Thus the second form of From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) is a medley. It features first a nearly full minute intro that is a recorded but unused ELO 2 album intro, followed by a little over a minute of Daybreaker, then From the Sun To The World (Boogie #1) almost in full, but ending with a greatly extended jam session that includes excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. A sample demonstrating the Swan Lake excerpts can be heard HERE, with the first sample being taken from a 2005 recording by the American Ballet Theatre and the remainder from ELO recordings of this performance.

It was known that Jeff often mumbled through the lyrics of many of his songs when singing live during these early shows. As such, sometimes the lyrics do not match the album/single versions. From the surviving material for the medley for From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1), the lyrics are shown below. These are the best as can be determined and are very likely incorrect because Jeff sort of mumbles his way through the lyric, often singing gibberish and things that make little sense.

-Verse 1
I can see you, you get down from my shoulder,
And the love in our hearts, that's on down for forever,
No longer could afford the life in jail.
-Verse 2
When you look, wanna see you laughing,
And I know that the love, what you give and forever,
No longer in my life to be afraid.
-Verse 3
I can see you, you get down from my shoulder,
And I know in our hearts that the world shines forever,
No longer can believe the life I live, yeah.
-Verse 4
When you see me, I wanna love everything now,
And the sun that's on down from the sun to the world,
No longer could afford the life in jail.

The surviving material for Kuiama taken from this same concert does not vary from the album counterpart. This is most likely because bassist Mike deAlbuquerque had to sing harmony vocals so it was more important that the lyrics be correct in this case.

In truth, there likely is no single setlist for these shows and surely they evolved over time. The inclusion of Daybreaker wasn't used until the March show in Birmingham, so it's unclear how From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) was played before this. It's unclear if Do Ya was played at any of the UK shows. And songs such as Momma and In Old England Town (Boogie #2) which were played at shows at the end of 1972 may or may not have been included in the 1973 shows. Much of the details are educated speculation only due to lack of good information.

The band also performed both Kuiama and Roll Over Beethoven in the US on May 29, 1973 for The Midnight Special, just before the start of their USA tour, so surely those songs were included in the setlist of the USA tour. The performance of Roll Over Beethoven from this show was mimed to a backing track except for Jeff's lead vocals, which were live. The performance of Kuiama is not available so its technique of performance for the program is unknown at this time. The band also recorded a performance in late June 1973 for the In Concert program, although this program is not available for review so details remain a mystery.

UK/Europe Tour Setlist

Song Title

Arrangement

Song comments

Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing

This performance is basically the From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) song with the ELO 2 album intro and a section of Daybreaker at the beginning, an extended jam that includes an excerpt from Swan Lake, and a unique closing.

This medley was not added to the setlist until the March 14th Birmingham show.

Kuiama

This is basically the same as the ELO 2 album, but the middle instrumental part is extended by about two additional minutes.

10538 Overture

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

Great Balls Of Fire

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours. It was later performed as part of a medley with the inclusion of Daybreaker, but it remains unclear how or if it was performed before that.

In Old England Town (Boogie #2)

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

Mama

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

In The Hall Of The Mountain King

This is the same basic arrangement that would later be recorded for the On The Third Day album.

The band would later record this song in the studio for the On The Third Day album.

Roll Over Beethoven

This is (believed to be) the full USA Electric Light Orchestra II extended version, minus the mellotron intro.

North American Tour Setlist

Song Title

Arrangement

Song comments

Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing

This performance is basically the From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) song with the ELO 2 album intro and a section of Daybreaker at the beginning, an extended jam that includes an excerpt from Swan Lake, and a unique closing.

10538 Overture

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

Showdown

Unknown

Note that this song was supposedly being performed in North America before it was released. The band had recording the song just before the tour started.

Wilf's Violin Solo

Unknown

Kuiama

This is basically the same as the ELO 2 album, but the middle instrumental part is extended by about two additional minutes.

Do Ya

This is a rocked up version of the original Move version. The string players do not play on the song.

This is believed to have been played only on the North American tour, in part because it was a very minor hit for Jeff Lynne while in The Move.

Le Cygne

Unknown

This was Mike Edward's cello solo, with the exploding cello bit.

Great Balls Of Fire

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

In Old England Town (Boogie #2)

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

Mama

Unknown

Performance of this song on this tour is unconfirmed. It is known to have been performed on prior tours.

In The Hall Of The Mountain King

This is the same basic arrangement that would later be recorded for the On The Third Day album.

The band would later record this song in the studio for the On The Third Day album.

Roll Over Beethoven

This is (believed to be) the full USA Electric Light Orchestra II extended version, minus the mellotron intro.

Releases

The only release from this tour is taken from the BBC broadcast of an April 19, 1973 performance at Paris Street Cinema in London (initially broadcast on May 12, 1973). It was released on the 1999 CD entitled Live At The BBC (Eagle Records EAMCD097), although the concert was available on numerous bootlegs previously. The tracks on the CD include Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing (labeled as simply From The Sun To The World), Kuiama, In The Hall Of The Mountain King and Roll Over Beethoven.

This BBC concert had been available on various bootlegs over the years, but there are noticeable differences in the tracks on the Live At The BBC release compared to all previous bootlegs. Thus it is assumed that the Live At The BBC recordings were sourced from something other than the recordings prepared for and broadcast on the BBC. Differences include the performance of Kuiama which cuts everything after the first two verses up to and including the vocal bridge thus reducing the running time from 13:04 to 10:26. This is known from comparing the bootleg recordings to the Live At The BBC release. The Live At The BBC release also includes In The Hall Of The Mountain King and the introduction of the band following the Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing performance, which was not included on any bootleg before. The performance of Roll Over Beethoven remains unchanged between the bootlegs and official releases, but it's quite likely to have been edited as it's quite short compared to other known performances of the song near this period.

Comparing the performance of Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing between the BBC bootlegs and the Live At the BBC release prove the most interesting. Both are edited, but they are edited differently. Thus neither of them is complete. The chart below describes all the differences and it may be possible to reconstruct the full performance by editing together these two sources.

Release

ELO 2 Intro

Daybreaker

From The Sun To The World main riff

Verse 1 ("I can see you..." to "...afford the life in jail") and
Verse 2 ("When you look..." to "...in my life to be afraid")

From The Sun To The World main riff

From The Sun To The World quiet section with piano and violin

Verse 3 ("I can see you..." to "...lead the life I live") and
Verse 4 ("When you see me..." to "...afford the life in jail")

From The Sun To The World main riff andSwan Lake on cello plus rising violin

Swan Lake on keyboard and
Extended closing jam session

Live At The BBC

[0:00 to 0:53]

[0:53 to 2:06]

[2:06 to 2:40]

[2:40 to 3:31]

[3:31 to 4:02]

[4:02 to 5:18]

missing

missing

[5:18 to 10:59]

Bootlegs from BBC broadcast

[0:00 to 0:53]

[0:53 to 2:01]

missing

[2:01 to 2:51]

[2:51 to 3:23]

missing

[3:23 to 4:12]

[4:12 to 5:11]

[5:11 to 10:54]

Bootlegs featuring this concert, including the alternate edit of From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) and Kuiama, include Rockaria Ouverture, Beethoven, Lynne & Co and E.L.O. Live Unapproved with the latter including fake audience cheering noises to the beginning and end of the performances (giving the hilariously transparent illusion that the band was playing a huge stadium).

There are no other official releases from this tour. And there is precious little bootleg material. An audience recorded performance of The Move's Do Ya from a live performance in Toronto appeared on the Wholly Edison bootleg. This song is the only performance from the ELO 2 tour (or more correctly, the Electric Light Orchestra II tour) on this bootleg, with all other selections take from later tours.

Curiously, the music video for Roll Over Beethoven is a completely live recording. It was recorded in an unidentified British theater on an unidentified date. It is the full UK ELO 2 album version of the song. It has never had official release anywhere, although it's available as a bootleg.

Bootlegs from this tour include:

Date

Location

Source

Quality

Comments

April 19, 1973

Paris Cinema, London, UK

Monitor

Excellent

All bootlegs include an edited performance of Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing and Kuiama, but are missing In The Hall Of The Mountain King.

June 16, 1973

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Audience

Good

Only Do Ya from this concert is available.

Opening Acts

The Electric Light Orchestra was always known to be the opening band for any of the shows in which they were not the only act on the bill. For the most part, the UK shows were all small venues and they may have headlined at some of these shows, but that remains unknown. For the North American shows, they were the opening band for other, much more successful bands such as Climax Blues Band, Hot Tuna, Quicksilver Messager Service and The Edgar Winter Group.

For the Scandinavian shows, the band opened for Deep Purple, the first time ever working with the band. This would start a relationship between the bands in live settings that would last for a few more years. The band's relationship with Deep Purple would lead to the recommendation that ELO to record at Musicland Studios in Germany with engineer Mack, which would see ELO's biggest success of the 1970s. Perhaps ironically, Jeff Lynne would call this successful period his "purple patch", which has nothing to do with Deep Purple but is an English idiom for something standing out from the rest of the works.

Promotions

To promote the band in the UK, the band not only did the BBC recording mentioned above, but they also recorded a music video for Roll Over Beethoven. This music video is rather unique in that it's not mimed to a single or album recording, but is an actual live performance-- unfortunately, the date and place of recording remain unknown at this time. This video, filmed in an unidentified British theatre on an undetermined date, features the band on stage in front of a live audience playing the full ELO 2 LP version of the song, running approximately eight minutes and 30 seconds total. The video starts with a cartoon marquee introducing the band and for about the first minute or so, the band is shown with various negative/positive camera effects. It features the band at the time, including violinist Wilf Gibson (in red shirt and yellow cape) and cellists Mike Edwards and Colin Walker. In a few moments of rock 'n' roll madness, cellist Mike Edwards performs some stage antics during the long instrumental bridge of the song by simultaneously playing Colin Walker's cello (imagine two bows on one cello), pretending to wipe sweat off of Jeff Lynne's brow during the guitar solo, and eventually reaching up between Jeff Lynne's legs to play the guitar using his cello bow. This video has never been released officially and is very rarely seen on TV-- probably due to the eight minute running time. It can be seen HERE.

On US shores, United Artists heavily promoted the band with several press photos of the band in tuxedoes and long hair, as if there were a mad orchestra. They also created and used the image of Ludwig van Beethoven stuffing his fingers in his ears and looking angry as ever. This was a parody of the concept of classical instruments playing rock music, as well as the image conveyed through the concept from Roll Over Beethoven of Beethoven being upset over the music.

Also shortly arriving in the US and before the start of the tour, on May 29th, the band recorded Kuiama and Roll Over Beethoven for the popular The Midnight Special in a Burbank, California studio. The performance of Roll Over Beethoven from this show was mimed to a backing track except for Jeff's lead vocals, which were live. The performance of Kuiama is not available so its technique of performance for the program is unknown at this time, but it is believed to have been the same technique (live vocals to recorded backing track) as the instrumental backing track was released in 2004 on the Early Years compilation (EMI 5 92808 2) as a hidden track (at the end of the quad mix of 10538 Overture). These performances were first aired on June 29th with host Paul Williams; the performance of Roll Over Beethoven was repeated on a August 17th episode with Richard Pryor hosting. Neither episode has ever been released, but the episode aired on August 17th is commonly available on the bootleg market. Unfortunately the June 29th episode is not available so the performance of Kuiama is not available in any way.

The band also recorded a performance of Roll Over Beethoven for ABC's In Concert TV show at a New York City studio on June 21st or 22nd. This performance would air on episode #14, on August 17th. This episode is not available for review so it remains unclear if it was a live, mimed or hybrid type of performance. Ironically, this episode aired counter to The Midnight Special on the same August 17th Friday night.

No other photos from this tour are currently available. If you have any to share, please contact the email address at the bottom of this page.

Fan Comments

Enter comments only about this tour. (Inappropriate comments will be removed.)

I was at the June 20 1973 show I at Temple U in Ambler. It was definitely Al Kooper opening w/the Original Blues Project followed by ELO. And they blew down the tent with Roll Over Beethoven!

I was at the Rush concert supporting Electric Light Orchestra in Wildwood NJ in July 1973. ELO was fantastic, the arena small and somewhat undersold, the fans ecstatic as the band played all of their second album and a twenty minute Roll Over Beethoven to close the show. My girlfriend at the time recently confirmed my distinct recollection that the then totally unknown band Rush was the very nervous support act. Moreover, she claims that Jeff addressed the crowd at the end and said they covered all of their material. The fans wanted more and ELO then repeated a song from earlier in the concert before we hit the boardwalk.

The opening act for ELO at Wildwood NJ was a very young and admittedly nervous "Rush" in perhaps their first American concert

I saw ELO in Portland Maine in the summer of 1973, but see no record of that. They were the opening act that evening.

I can confirm that the support acts at the Chesford Grange April 23 1973 concert were John Martyn (who was promoting his Solid Air album, which had just been released) and my disco (Hot Air, who was booked at the last minute by the Chesford Grange). After the show I met Bev Bevan and Jeff Lynne.Steve Timothy

Share your stories and memories of this tour.

Song Comments

From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) (ELO 2 Tour)
Although unconfirmed at this time, it is believed that the band was performing the album version of From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) for the first two and a half months of the ELO 2 tour before changing to a version as a medley that including Daybreaker, excerpts from Swan Lake and a long jam session.

Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing (ELO 2 Tour)
Although unconfirmed at this time, it is believed that the band was performing the album version of From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) for the first two and a half months of the ELO 2 tour before changing to a version as a medley that including Daybreaker, excerpts from Swan Lake and a long jam session.

Th song saw official release on 1999's Live At The BBC from an April 19, 1973 performance, however it's noted that this i an edited version. Previously bootlegged (from broadcasts) versions of this performance were also edited, but differently so. Thus, the full version remains unheard and unreleased.

Running Time: 15:00 (approximate)

Record Date: January to March, 1973 (UK/Scandinavia); June & July, 1973 (USA)

Le Cygne (ELO 2 Tour)
The band's performance of this song on the ELO 2 tour was only on the North American leg and may not have always happened. It is reported to be a cello solo by Mike Edwards of Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Cygne with the exploding cello (really played by someone else (presumably Colin Walker) backstage).

Running Time: Unknown

Record Date: June & July 1973 (North America)

Record Location: North America

Written By: Camille Saint-Saëns

Performed By: Mike Edwards (fake cello), Colin Walker (cello)

Released On: Unreleased

10538 Overture (ELO 2 Tour)
The band's performance of this song on the ELO 2 tour is unconfirmed.

Running Time: Unknown

Record Date: January to May, 1973 (UK/Scandinavia); June & July, 1973 (USA)

Great Balls Of Fire (ELO 2 Tour)
It is fairly certain that the band performed this cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis song on the ELO 2 tour (and Electric Light Orchestra II tour in North America), but it's unclear if it was played at all shows or what the arrangement was.

Running Time: 3:40 (approximate)

Record Date: January to May, 1973 (UK/Scandinavia); June & July, 1973 (USA)

Do Ya (ELO 2 Tour)
For the ELO 2 tour, this song may have only been performed at the North American concerts.

A full version of The Move's Do Ya was used on the ELO 2 tour in the USA and is the only known song to have been bootlegged from that tour. Unlike later ELO tours, for the ELO 2 tour performances, the band performed The Move version, sans cellos and complete with Jeff adding the "Look out baby, there's a-plane a comin'" bit at the end. It first appeared on the Wholly Edison bootleg LP and is from the June 16, 1973 performance at Toronto's Massey Hall.

"The show also contains the Move hit Do Ya, composed by Lynne - for that one the strings walk offstage."Author Unknown (July 17 1973 - The Boston Phoenix)

Running Time: 5:46

Record Date: January to May, 1973 (UK/Scandinavia); June & July, 1973 (USA)

Roll Over Beethoven (ELO with Marc Bolan)
"Marc Bolan's a friend of mine from a few years back. He was in AIR here, just over-dubbing something, and we had a good booze up, a bit of a reunion. It was the first time I'd met Marc for about two years, and he asked if we were doing any local gigs. Then he came along to Watford and joined us on Roll Over Beethoven, which was the last number. Right from the beginning the girls at the front spotted him at the side of the stage and they were screaming all through the set. It was an experience for us just to see it really happening but he must get choked off by the fact that he can't hear himself play because he really is a good guitar player now."Jeff Lynne (1973 - Record Mirror (unknown issue))

"Ah, the dancing pixie came on-stage. I remember that Marc was a big ELO fan. He attended and played on some of the recording sessions but he also made no secret of the fact that he loved ELO - he was a big, big Jeff fan. He turned up at this gig in Watford and when he came on-stage, he was magic, he danced everywhere - he made us all look like amateurs (laughs). Marc was a fantastic stage presence, a fantastic and lovely personality."Michael De Albuquerque (2002 - Face The Music fanclub (exact source uncertain))

"We thought [Marc] was kidding but one night in Watford, he turned up with his guitar and jammed with us on: Roll Over Beethoven. It was surprise for everyone and we felt a bit sorry for him when he first came on stage. Our audiences were quite 'heavy' and with Marc's pop image he came in for a bit of stick from some of the folk there, but he soon won them over and we all enjoyed ourselves. The song that night lasted around 15 minutes, uch to the delight of the fans!" [end quote]"Bev Bevan (September 16, 2012 - Sunday Mirror)

"Then we did a show-- I think it was in Watford, I think it was at Watford Town Hall-- and [Marc Bolan] played on stage with us. He played [Ma-Ma-Ma Belle] and I think he played Roll Over Beethoven too. Again, it was a great surprise for the crowd, to see such a hero playing with ELO. It was a great time, yes."Bev Bevan (March 5, 2014 - Hit Channel website interview)

"While he was there, Marc [Bolan] asked if the group were doing any local gigs in the near future. As a result, when they played Watford Town Hall a few days later, he came on stage and joined them at the end of the show for Roll Over Beethoven. 'Right from the beginning, the girls at the front spotted him at the side of the stage and they were screaming all through the set,' Jeff recalled. ‘It was an experience for us just to see it really happening, but he must get choked off by the fact that he can’t hear himself play because he really is a good guitar player!' It was no less an experience for the audience, who roared their approval, and the song lasted for around fifteen minutes."John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Roll Over Beethoven (Video Version)
This is a live performance from the music video produced to promote the song. It's a unique video because it is a live performance, rather than a staged and/or mimed performance to the studio recording. The video shows the band performing the song on stage in front of an audience, however there are no identifying things to tell when or where the song was performed and recorded. The performance is a typical live performance for the band at the time, using the basic UK ELO 2 album arrangement, but no mellotron intro, greatly extended piano and guitar solos during the instrumental breaks, and the unique whirling piano bit after the "dance like a spinning top" lyric. Most amusing is that during the guitar solo of the second instrumental break, the string players have fun with violinist Wilf Gibson grabbing one of the cellos and dragging it across the stage (listen for the violin when it stops playing) and cellist Mike Edwards reaching up between Jeff's legs and playing the guitar with his cello bow.

Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing (BBC April 19, 1973)
The song incorporates ELO 2 Intro from [0:00] to [0:53], instrumental portions of Daybreaker from [0:53] to [2:06], From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) from [2:06] to [7:47], Swan Lake from [7:47] to [8:18], and an unknown guitar/keyboard/violin instrumental jam from [8:18] to [14:00]. According to the Unexpected Messages book, this song contains portions of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, however it is unclear which portions of Swan Lake are used or where in the instrumental jam it is used. The guitar/keyboard/violin instrumental jam heard here was also used on the end Showdown on the The Night The Light Went On In Long Beach album. An edit of this song was released on the 1999 compilation Live At The BBC.

"The concert on April 19th, 1973 at the London Rainbow Theatre, was recorded by the BBC for TV. [...] E.L.O. played a medley which was introduced as 'Selections From E.L.O. 2' and consisted of an 'Intro' which was to become Daybreaker [on the On The Third Day album], Jeff's Boogie No. 1, Swan Lake from Tchaikovsky and the medley closed with a long 'solo part', which they played [in] 1974 as second part of Showdown."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

Medley: ELO 2 Intro/Daybreaker/From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1)/Closing (Edited Version) (BBC April 19, 1973)
This song is edited from the original performance, cutting the quiet section before the last two choruses, the last two choruses and everything else until the big moog section begins, including the Swan Lake portion of the song. The song incorporates ELO 2 Intro from [0:00] to [0:53], instrumental portions of Daybreaker from [0:53] to [2:06], From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) from [2:06] to [5:27], and an unknown guitar/keyboard/violin instrumental jam from [5:27] to [10:59]. The E.L.O. Live at the BBC CD incorrectly lists this song title as simply From The Sun To The World.

Running Time: 11:39 [10:59 for the song and 0:40 for a band introduction]

Kuiama (BBC April 19, 1973)
An edit of this performances was issued on the 1999 release, Live At The BBC.

"The live version of Kuiama from [the April 19th 1973 BBC concert] had a solo part which was even longer than on the album."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

Kuiama (Edited Version) (BBC April 19, 1973)
This song is edited from the original performance, cutting everything from the third verse to the violin solo (which includes the fourth, fifth and sixth verses and the vocal bridge).

Running Time: 10:26 [10:05 for the song and 0:21 for between song talk]

In The Hall Of The Mountain King (BBC April 19, 1973)
"In The Hall Of The Mountain King is taken from the BBC's popular In Concert series recorded on 19 April 1973 at the Paris Cinema in London and broadcast on 12 May. A powerful arrangement of Grieg's most popular work, the performance successfully captures the excitement of the Electric Light Orchestra live."Rob Caiger (March 2004 - liner notes for Early Years album)

"Their interpretation of Grieg's Hall Of The Mountain King [sic] is so grotesquely pompous it could be John Williams' Sky."Stevie Chick (March 2004 - MOJO, issue no. 124)

Kuiama (The Midnight Special - May 29, 1973)
This performance was first broadcast on the The Midnight Special on June 29, 1973 and although this broadcast is not available on the bootleg market, a re-broadcast of Roll Over Beethoven from August 17, 1973 survives. As the performance of Roll Over Beethoven is of live lead vocals over a taped backing, it is assumed that Kuiama from the same recording uses the same technique.

Roll Over Beethoven (The Midnight Special - May 29, 1973)
This performance is of a new lead vocal by Jeff Lynne while the rest of the band mimes to a tape of the single version instrumental backing. It was first broadcast on the The Midnight Special on June 29, 1973 and although this broadcast is not available on the bootleg market, a re-broadcast from August 17, 1973 survives, complete with song introduction by Richard Pryor.

Roll Over Beethoven (In Concert - June, 1973)
This song was performed for the ABC In Concert TV series. Although it was recorded in June of 1973, it didn't first air until August 17, 1973, a month after the end of the band's first USA tour. It's unclear if this song is performed live, mimed to a recording or a hybrid (as was done for The Midnight Special earlier) as it's not available for review.

Running Time: Unknown

Record Date: June 21 or 22, 1973 (recorded); August 17, 1973 (broadcast)

This page is intended to be a complete record of information on the Electric Light Orchestra ELO 2 tour. If you notice any errors or omissions (which there are many), please contact me at jefflynnesongs@gmail.com and let me know. I strive for accuracy.